UK Pension Fund Invests 3% of Its Assets in Bitcoin: Details

A United Kingdom-based pension fund has chosen to invest 3% of its assets in Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Corporate Advisor reported recently that the unnamed fund made the Bitcoin investment in October, following advice from British pension specialist Cartwright. Direct Bitcoin Investment, Not by Proxy Interestingly, the fund invested in the firstborn cryptocurrency directly, instead of through an exchange-traded fund (ETF) like most institutions do. For instance, in March, the State of Wisconsin pension took the ETF route while investing in Bitcoin. At the time, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board used 0.1% of its assets worth $164 million to purchase shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). However, the unnamed UK fund took a different approach by directly investing in BTC itself. Corporate Advisor reported that the pension fund initiated the investment after considering several factors such as investment viability, security, and ESG (Environmental, Social, & Governance). To provide adequate security for the investment, the Corporate Advisor noted that the unnamed pension fund would split and manage the private keys to the Bitcoin portfolio across five institutions. The 3% allocation aligns with the pension fund’s long-term investment strategy. Cartwright Encourages Institutions to Invest in Bitcoin As stated earlier, Cartwright played a major role in convincing the unnamed fund to allocate a portion of its AUM to Bitcoin. It is worth mentioning that Cartwright is an advisor to the pension fund. Besides the unnamed scheme, Cartwright also advised other institutional investors to convert a portion of their AUMs to Bitcoin, similar to the approach adopted across various parts of the world. Steve Robinson, Cartwright’s head of Investment Implementation, said the operational procedure around the Bitcoin investment strategy guarantees maximum security and faster profit-taking.